- Cut back on ‘fun’ – I don’t drink at home, so in 2020 I don’t drink. I was never into drugs. Hangovers always used to be the start of nights of unrest
- Go to bed early – I generally go to bed between 10-11pm, that way if I can’t sleep I’ll be up until 1 or 2am, not all night.
- Wake up at the same time everyday
- Weird boring podcast – One that you’re interested enough in that is a little monotonous and long form. I like old wrestling stories from the 90s about when they were on the road and tried to find the right mix of steroids, alcohol, drugs and to see where the night went.
- The statue game – If I’m really not focusing on the podcast I’ll close my eyes and be as still as possible for as long as I can. If that’s really hard I’ll use the stopwatch on my phone then try and do it longer the next time.
- Exercise – this is a habit, at the moment I lift a kettle bell by my side every time I have a cigarette, as some kind of yin and yang thing. Then after a few days I’ll have the energy to do this more, do some stretching, press ups, enjoy it. Then I’ll get cocky, stop for a few weeks and be back to square one.
- It all catches up – If I don’t sleep, my body will crash eventually and it will balance out
- Right treatment – mental health is a minefield in terms of therapy, psychiatry, medication etc. The sooner you look at different approaches the better chance you have of finding one that works.
- Samaritans – call BEFORE you feel too depressed or self harming or whatever, 3 o clock in the afternoon, call, say you’re thinking too much and stressy and get it out your system
- Meditation – I have the CALM app, I don’t use it everyday but there’s some stuff on there that’s academic, a really good series by a guy who was important at Apple Mac about how nearly everyone thinks their job is pointless, some hippy music and a bunch of pointless celebrities reading bedtime stories that I am too judgmental of to try. But the concept of spending 10 minutes plugged out of staring at screens is a good one.
Coping with Insomnia tips
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Joshua Ross - cloud content for joshuaross.com 